R. Gerald McMurtry

I picked this up while visiting Hildene, Robert Todd Lincoln's estate in Manchester, Vermont. Lincoln, the eldest and only surviving son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, became quite prosperous in business as President of the Pullman rail car company. When his estate was turned over to a foundation in the 1970's a file of papers labeled MTL Insanity Papers was discovered in a safe in his study. Lincoln had preserved letters and legal documents about his mother being declared insane in 1875 and committed to an asylum in Illinois. The papers deal with the process of making the finding (through the opinions of experts) before a jury. The action also made Robert the conservator of Mary's money. Mary had continue after Lincoln's death to spend money wildly, often on buying sprees for clothes and jewelry that she never used. (She reminds one of the so-called "hoarders" shown on today's reality TV.)

The book delves into the historiography of previous efforts to describe the event and concludes that most were deficient in several ways, mostly portraying Mary as the subject of unfair treatment by the medical profession and legal processes. The author's conclude that Mary was indeed mentally unbalanced and that the efforts to protect her from herself and from dissipating her estate by continued compulsive spending were justified.

The story is a bit dry as it delves deeply into the legal proceedings that surrounded the affair. It's a quick read and does give insights into this complex person.… (més)